Say the word “gang” and images of
minority youths in baggy jerseys and jeans, color specific bandanas, Timberlands,
and gold chains may come to your mind – a glamorized culture of violence and decadence
with no apparent beginning or ending. But “gangs” in their own reality – not necessarily
the images we see on reality TV – do have real roots. From Jamaica and New
York’s turbulent 1970’s to today, gang development has come as a response to
socio-economic pressures that arise in certain communities. This blog essay
will attempt to shed light, in summary, on those factors that gave birth to the
“gang” and how those histories can be seen repeating themselves today.
Savage Skulls
Much
like in the politically divided Jamaica of 1968 – 1977 (Chang, Chapter 2 “Sipple
Out Deh”), New York gangs began as protective measure for the young people of the
abandoned Bronx and other re-segregated neighborhoods that sprung up as a
consequence of city planner Robert Moses’s “Urban Renewal” plans (Rose, “All
Aboard the Night Train”). As racial whites, typically of Jewish, Italian, and
German heritage were bused into suburban housing communities, Blacks and Puerto
Ricans were left to fend for themselves in abandoned neighborhoods with no
jobs, no resources, and no hope. Tensions grew and petty crimes escalated into
violence, prompting the formation of local security outfits – then referred to
as “crews” – that would protect members of the neighborhood. As one crew sprung
up in a specific neighborhood, another would rise up in defense of another in
the area (Chang, Chapter 3). The crews then transformed themselves into
distinctive tribes which fought against one another and carried out specific
traditions – “gangs” had finally emerged. But the point of these gangs soon refocused as
drugs began to invade the Bronx and police authorities retreated. The gangs took it upon themselves to clean up
their boroughs – rid the streets of junkies, drugs, and eventually moved on to
providing meals for other youths and introducing the concept of “club houses”.
In the absence of authorities and NGO’s, the gangs rose to the occasion to
provide some law and order to the Bronx (Chang, pg. 49).
But
with all of their efforts, the community still suffered. Many of the Bronx
youths were being raised in single parent households or by their grandparents,
schools did not offer much in or outside of the classrooms, and random assaults
on the streets were still commonplace. Thus
the gangs’ mission evolved once again, and gangs took on the persona that we
know today – the surrogate family. Gangs like the Ghetto Brothers, Savage
Skulls, Savage Nomads, Black Spades, and many others repurposed themselves to
fill the void left behind by broken homes and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Minority
youths, ignored (if not all together rejected) by the system, put on the “colors”
of their gang and finally felt a sense of belonging. The gangs gave meaning and
hope to hopeless boys and girls of color who were searching for something
better (Chang, Chapter 3). The gangs of
1970’s and 1980’s New York, particularly the Ghetto Brothers, gave a voice and
a way out for the children of the Bronx, a way out of the invisible margins and
into the pages of history.
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